Player Profiles

Dan Uggla at his young age is already the home run king for the Florida/Miami Marlins. That title right now is in jeopardy with Giancarlo Stanton hitting home runs pretty much every day. Of course though he has already made a name for himself with Marlins franchise. After being traded in the 2009 offseason to the Atlanta Braves for Omar Infante and Mike Dunn he is still up to his power ways. In 2010 he had an over 30 game hit streak which was amazing to watch also that year he hit 36 home runs. In 2013 right now he has hit 21 home runs which is 2nd with the Braves! Of course when you have Uggla you are bound to have strike ours with him batting .186 he has struck out 146 times. Last night he hit his first ever Triple-A home run which is shocking to me because of the career he has had in the majors the reason it was his first was because when he was called up for the Marlins he went from Double-A straight to the majors. Ian Kinsler debuted April 3rd 2006 with the Texas Rangers in that year he was named the Rangers rookie of the year. In 2006 he was the first Ranger rookie to get 100 hits, 10 home runs, and 10 stolen bases in 2006. Despite Ian's fine rookie year he was over shadowed by a bumper crop of first year stars, including Dan Uggla, Francisco Liriano, Jonathon Pabelbon, Ryan Zimmerman, Prince Fielder, Justin Verlander, and Hanley Ramirez. In 2007 Ian was on of the only players in the league to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases he also placed 18th in runs in the AL with 96. In 2008 Ian was one of the toughest players to strike out on the Rangers and the MLB he only struck out 67 times. In 2008 he also was 4th in the AL in batting average with a batting average of 319. and he was 10th in the AL in stolen bases with 26. In 2009 he was ranked 24 on "The Sporting News" list of 50 of the best players of the 2009 season. He hit 31 home runs which ranked 10th in the AL also he had ranked 7th in stolen bases when he stole 31 bases getting his first 30-30 season. In the 2010 season he made the American League all star team because Dustin Pedroia was unable to play he also got the final out in the 3-1 victory for the AL over the NL. In 2010 it was his worst season of his career when he only hit 9 home runs, 45 RBI, and 15 stolen bases. In 2011 it was arguably his best season of his career when he hit 32 home runs, had 77 RBI, and 30 stolen bases. He ranked 5th in the AL in home runs and ranked 2nd in runs with 121 runs. In 2012 he placed 3rd in the AL in runs with 105 and he also placed 13th in the AL in steals with 21. He played in a career high 157 games and 655 at bats he hit for a .256 batting average. In 2013 he had a down year partially because of an injury that limited to only 136 games and only 13 home runs. He also had 77 RBI, 15 stolen bases, and a .277 batting average. In the offseason of 2014 he was traded to the Tigers in exchange for Prince Fielder.

Deadline Deals

This year's trade deadline has started a little early with the trade of Chase Headly to the Yankees in exchange for Yangveris Solarte and Rafael de Paula. Today a deal went down between the Rangers and the Tigers which involved Joakim Soria to the Tigers but the Tigers had to give up 2 of their top 5 prospects including Jake Thompson and Corey Knebel. Another trade today included the Twins sending Kendrys Morales to the Mariners for reliever Stephen Pryor. Today the Red Sox traded 3-Time All Star Jake Peavy and cash to the Giants for minor league pitchers Edwin Escobar and Heath Hambree. Today Darwin Barney and cash were traded from the Cubs to the Dodgers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Today the Royals trade Danny Valencia to the Blue Jays in exchange for Erik Kratz and Liam Hendriks. Today Justin Masterson was traded to the Cardinals in exchange for James Ramsey. Another trade today involved Felix Doubront going to the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later to the Red Sox. Today the first blockbuster deal took place which included Jon Lester, Jonny Gomes, and cash being traded to the A's in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes. Another big deal today was John Lackey and Cash were traded to the Cardinals for Allen Craig and Joe Kelly to the Red Sox. The Mariners acquire Chris Denorfia from the Padres in exchange for Abraham Almonte and Stephen Kohlscheen. In the final deal of the year David Price was traded to the Tigers in a 3 way deal that included Austin Jackson was traded to the Mariners.

NL East April Recap

The NL East race so far in the year has been neck and neck all year. With all teams within 2 games of first this will be an amazing race for the NL championship. The Miami Marlins have been doing amazing even when people are doubting them as they have in the past couple of years. They could be the surprising team of the year in the entire MLB I predict that they will make a case for the NL wildcard if they don't win the east. The Braves have been slumping as of late losing there last 7 of 10 if the Braves can stay healthy once again they could win the east. The Nationals who could possibly be the most talented team in the East have a good chance to win the East if they keep all of their stars healthy. They have made even better improvements to their pitching by adding Doug Fister to their rotation. The New York Mets have a very talented team if once again they stay healthy with Travis D'Arnaud, Curtis Granderson, and Zach Wheeler. As soon as they get Matt Harvey back they will be a force in the East. The Philadelphia Phillies have a good amount of young talent with Cody Asche, Dominic Brown, and Ben Revere. Dominic Brown could possibly be a MVP at some point in his career. Overall the NL East is one of the best divisions in the MLB. Every Team has amazing potential.

Offseason Topics

This offseason I will be getting you the latest news from around the MLB. For the second time in 19 years the Yankees had to watch the postseason from at home but the front office has different plans in 2014. It was a bold but reasonable surprisingly enough that they said that they would spend 300 million dollars this offseason which I mean is a LOT of money. In the big market of New York to go a long with the success of the Yankees in the past it is not that surprising that they would say this to the media. For whom I think they will go after and resign I will just name a few. Brian McCann they really need a catcher at all costs I mean Francisco Cervalli isn't cutting it plus he is way injury prone. I think that they will resign Robinson Cano and Hiroki Kuroda both had once again amazing years. Last night the Silver Slugger Awards were given out to the best hitters of 2013 including Robinson Cano, Chris Davis, Paul Goldschmidt. These next six are all repeat winners from 2012 Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Andrew McCutchen, Jay Bruce, Ian Desmond, and Robinson Cano. The next nine are first time winners Chris Davis, Paul Goldschmidt, Adam Jones, JJ Hardy, Matt Carpenter, Yadier Molina, Pedro Alvarez, Michael Cuddyer, and Zack Greinke. They are joined with David Ortiz, David Mauer, and Torii Hunter. This week in the MLB it has been a little crazy it started off with Robinson Cano signing with Mariners and then later that day Curtis Granderson signing with the Mets. Yesterday the D-Backs, Angels, and the White Sox made a 3 way deal sending Mark Trumbo to the D-Backs and Adam Eaton to the White Sox. Also Drew Pomeranz was traded to the A's for Brett Anderson. Today there was even more deals done Bartolo Colon signed a deal with the Mets. Logan Morrison was traded to the Mariners and the Mariners also signed Corey Hart. Today in the MLB the Yankees declined a deal from the reds the deal was Brandon Phillips for Brett Gardner. Also relief pitcher Joba Chamberlain signed with the Tigers and outfield slugger Michael Morse signed with the Giants. Today the Rockies signed the relief pitcher Boone Logan. Also Jason Kubel returned to the Twins on a minor league deal and Mat Gamel signed with the Braves. Today Omar Infante signed with the Royals and James Loney re-signed with the Rays. Also Juan Uribe re-signed with the Dodgers. Today Mike Pelfrey re-signed with the Twins. Also Mark Ellis signs with the Cardinals pending a physical and John Axford signed with the Indians. Today Gavin Floyd signed with the Braves. Also Addison Reed was traded to the D-Backs in exchange for Matt Davidson. Today the D-Backs signed Jose Valverde to a minor league deal and the Dodgers signed JP Howell. Also the Braves re-signed Brandon Beachy. The Indians signed Shaun Marcum to a minor league deal and the Yankees signed Brian Roberts. The Yankees signed Matt Thornton. The Orioles signed Grant Balfour. Today Raul Ibanez signed with the Angels. Juaquin Benoit signed with the Padres. Eric Chavez re-signed with the D-Backs, the Twins traded Ryan Doumit to the Braves for a minor-leaguer, and the Indians traded Drew Stubbs to the Rockies for Josh Outman. Today the Padres traded Jesus Guzman to the Astros for Ryan Jackson. The Orioles deal with Grant Balfour is on stand by with shoulder problems with Balfour Orioles have a history of letting deals go due to a physical. Kurt Suzuki signed with the Twins. The D-Backs re-signed Brad Ziegler. The deal between Grant Balfour and the Orioles is officially off as the Orioles have called off the deal. Today the Rangers signed Shin Soo-Choo to a 7-year deal worth 130 million. Today the Dodgers signed Chris Perez pending a physical. Today the Blue Jays re-signed fan favorite Munenori Kawasaki to a minor league deal. Today the White Sox signed Scott Downs. Today the Mets signed Taylor Teagarden to a minor league deal. The Dodgers re-signed Clayton Kershaw to a 7-year 215 million dollar deal. Today the Brewers signed Mark Reynolds to a minor league contract. Today Masahiro Tanaka signed with the Yankees for 7 years and 155 million.Grant Balfour signed with the Rays. Matt Garza signed with the Brewers. Freddie Freeman signed a 8 year deal with the Braves the Braves also re-signed Jason Heyward to a 2 year deal. Paul Maholm signed with the Dodgers and Fernando Rodney signed with the Mariners. A.J. Burnett signed with the Phillies. Ubaldo Jimenez signed with the Indians. The Reds signed Homer Bailey to a 6 year 105 million dollar deal and the Braves locked up Andrelton Simmons for 7 years. Nelson Cruz signed with the Orioles on a 1 year 8 million dollar deal. Today the Tigers re-signed Miguel Cabrara to a 8 year contract worth 248 million dollars.

One Game Play-Off

I am here today to talk about the one game play-off in the MLB. Me of course being a Braves fan already know the frustrations of the one game play-off. In my opinion it should still just be a wild card series this baseball a game played in series if you want to see just one game go watch the NBA, the NFL, or the NHL but baseball no we play in series not in single games. A baseball season is 162 games for one crucial reason there are series. NFL is only 16 because they only play Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays plus they don't have series.

Up, Up, And a Hey!

Coming into the 2013 season the Braves outfield was star studded people were saying that they were the best outfield in the MLB. Right now not so much BJ Upton is now the highest earning bench player ever getting 75 million dollars over 5 years. Justin Upton is leading the team in home runs with 24 home runs leading the Braves. He hit 14 home runs in April! Then he went on a massive cold streak but he has heated up in August hitting 10 home runs since the start of August. Jason Heyward has been having a good season as well hitting some monster home runs but he has had some injuries. The Braves outfield still could be the best outfield in the MLB in years to come.

Something Smells Fishy

The Florida/Miami Marlins franchise burst onto the scene in 1993 4 years later in 1997 they went 92-70 getting wild card spot which today 92 wins would get the division. That year they went on to win there first world series over the Cleveland Indians. They were the team to beat and they proved that in 2003 when they beat the New York Yankees in the world series. With some help with young star pitcher Josh Beckett they later went on to trade Beckett to the Boston Red Sox for Hanley Ramirez. Ever since 2003 it has been a tough road for the Marlins Hanley Ramirez turned into a star as well as Beckett. In 2012 they changed their name to the Miami Marlins and got a new stadium thinking it would bring in more fans. They had the second worst record in NL this year it has not been much of a change but the Marlins are on the rise with young stars Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez. Look for great things from the Marlins in years to come.